Observations at 65º South

Synopsis:

A team of nine scientists embark on a journey to Antarctica. Their choice of transport: a small sailboat. This story is an intimately human account of what it means to live and work alongside one another under relentless conditions, set within the wider context of rapidly advancing global change, impending habitat destruction and the current zeitgeist of environmentalism.

We sail through the freezing waters of Antarctica, searching its shores and seas for the fatal trace of humanity. Nine scientists narrate their journey in the most treacherous and southernmost continent on our planet, working side by side under the extreme conditions of glacial temperatures, rampant winds, and the solitude of Antarctica’s vastness. Antarctica is the driest, coldest and windiest continent on Earth. Its relentless ice desert extends across 14 million square kilometres, and it is conventionally accessed only via airplane or large icebreakers. This is why a group of nine international scientists kicked up quite a fuss in 2019 when they took off to the Antarctic Peninsula aboard a small sailboat. Funded by the Belgian government, they intended to follow the route of the original Belgica expedition — the first scientific cruise in human history to reach Antarctica and, though involuntary, overwinter there. On the 120th anniversary of the Belgica’s historical return, the Belgica-120 expedition sets sail towards the frozen continent. Not out of nostalgia for the golden age of exploration, or a longing for adventure. But to advance closer to the Polar shore, which icebreakers, for their draught and size, fail to reach. 

Through their eyes and cameras, we observe the growing human waste that is constantly arriving to the continent’s shores, rubbish, clothing, plastics, all endangering the lives of those endemic animals that call the icy land their home. A global change that seems almost unstoppable and that we tend to forget is also visible from even the most remote corners of the Earth. Can we save these ecosystems and the environment as a whole? The West Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming areas on Earth, and yet our knowledge of the flora and fauna that populate this area is vastly incomplete. To be able to understand just how exactly plants and animals are affected by environmental changes, it is necessary to create a snapshot of the status quo. Or in scientific terms: to gather baseline data. Such is the key mission of Francesca, the chief diver who leads her team into the dark waters beneath the Pole. Henrik, who examines white-blooded ice fishes. Or the inseparable duo Camille and Quentin, who monitor the tiny species that exist in Antarctica’s intertidal area.

In following this truly unique scientific mission, Observations At 65º South scratches at the image of what has been considered Earth’s “last pristine continent”, while offering a hopeful outlook upon a group of individuals who are there to make a difference. Join these scientists as they bring the frosty continent to life in a fascinating, cinematic journey.

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